OWP
Shopping Tote Bag from Recycled Billboard Signs-Extra Lg-Fair Trade-India
Shopping Tote Bag from Recycled Billboard Signs-Extra Lg-Fair Trade-India
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Carry these colorful totes to your weekly farmer's market or your grocery store. These enviable totes are made from discarded/ rejected billboards and are lined with 100% cotton fabric for durability. Make a statement with this eco-chic shopping bag and support the environment!
These unique bags are handmade by women artisans trained at SPEED Trust, Chennai, India. SPEED Trust works with women from the urban slums of the city. These women work from the organization's production center. Apart from the products being sold through the SPEED Trust shop, these fair trade bags are exported to several countries.
- Measure 18-1/2” high x 14” wide x 9” deep
- One inside velcro pocket
- 10-1/2” drop
- No one bag is alike, please mention if you have specific color requirements and we will try to accommodate your request.
Handmade in India and fair trade imported.
Click on About the Artisans to learn more about this Non-Profit Organization and the female artisans who create these eco-friendly products.
About the Artisans
About the Artisans
SPEED Trust (Slum People Education & Economic Development), is a non-profit organization based in Chennai, India. The organization supports socio-economically deprived women from the urban slum areas of Chennai. SPEED Trust partnered with Baladarshan, a fair trade network of organizations that supports various women craft producers, organizations, and cooperatives working towards creating better livelihood opportunities, self-sustainability, and a platform for their products, like here at Low Country Fair Trade.
SPEED Trust was started in 1999 at Gandhi Nagar Sathyayani Muthu Nagar, one of the largest slum areas in Chennai. The project began with tailoring training for teenage girls from the slum community, who, after one year, were provided with a sewing machine by the trust. Simultaneously, SPEED Trust also set up educational programs that have helped women and girls to choose different occupations and livelihood options.
In 2002, 
SPEED Trust began training the physically challenged and the HIV- affected members of the community in the skill of basket weaving. These members were either unable to move or find work opportunities outside their homes. These unique baskets were woven out of recycled plastic (Polyethylene) wires. Apart from these magnificent baskets, the artisans at Speed Trust make several other interesting products which include, bags and aprons from salvaged billboards or advertising signs, and hand-rolled incense sticks and cones. The trust now runs a production unit and a showroom by the name of Varnajalam in Chennai, where they carry an array of handmade products by these female artisans.
Today SPEED Trust has been able to expand its reach, not only in the domestic but also in the international market. Apart from providing vocational and educational training to women and girls from the slum community, SPEED Trust also gives micro-credit loans to these artisans. The loan facility helps in making them independent and their businesses self-sustainable.
